You probably clicked on this article because you either are considering running the Walt Disney World Marathon, or because you are wondering why in the world anyone would willingly pay $170 to run 26.2 miles around Disney World. If you're in the first group, believe me, it'll be an experience you'll never forget. It'll probably be the most fun you ever have while running a marathon, because there is no other marathon in which you can meet some of your favorite Disney characters along the way. If you're in the second group, I've been where you are now. You don't believe the hype, you don't believe that it'll be worth, and you wonder why you would run 13.1 extra miles when the half marathon is the same price. When I signed up, I figured it would be more cost-effective to run the marathon, because you'd get more miles for your $170. The few days before the race, I seriously debated why in the world I would sign up to run over 26 miles when I could have ran 13 and still gotten a cool medal at the end. Was it just to check the "I ran a marathon" box? Was it to see how far I could push myself? Or was it because I actually enjoyed running enough that I wanted to run for a little over four hours? My guess is that it was a mixture of the three. However, there are a few things that I wish I had known before going into the race on Sunday morning.

1. Weather

In the past, the weather has been somewhat humid, close to 60 degrees on race morning. Considering I currently live in the mountains of Virginia, where it was snowing the weekend of the race, I was hoping for at least 45 degrees. However, I ended up regretting laughing at my friends stuck in 5+ inches of snow when the temperature the morning of the race was in the low 30's. A friend of mine who has run in the race multiple years said that this was kind of abnormal, especially since the max the temperature was supposed to be when we finished was in the mid 40's. So how do you plan for a race weekend when you aren't quite sure what the temperature is going to be?

Layer clothing. Believe me, even if the weather is going to be 70 degrees on expo day, make sure you bring a pair of running gloves, a running hat, some leggings or long spandex, and maybe a long sleeve shirt and a windbreaker. If you're planning on wearing a costume, make sure that you have ways to make it warmer if the weather demands it. Find a pair of cute leggings or tights to go under that tutu or running skirt. Bring a long sleeve shirt that matches your costume top. I accidentally brought more warm clothes than I thought, and I ended up not regretting it in the least.

Another pro tip: trash bags and hand warmers. You will see many people wearing trash bags at the start line. Some people bring the Mylar blankets, but those must be discarded before you cross the timing mat or your time will be screwed up. Trash bags do not cause any issues with timing, and many people end up wearing them for multiple miles at the start as they begin to warm up. The best part? You can find both trash bags and hand warmers at Walmart. Cheap, effective, and you can share trash bags if you feel generous and see other people freezing. They're an effective wind layer, and hold in heat pretty well!

2. Corrals

17,743 runners finished the 2017 Walt Disney World Marathon. Bib numbers ended at 32,891, and that was BEFORE the half marathon was cancelled and around 1,500 runners decided to do the full 26.2 miles. Clearly, a mass start is not possible with that many runners. So, Disney splits runners up into corrals based on estimated finishing time, which is predicted when a runner submits valid proof of timing for a previous 10-miler, half-marathon, or marathon.

These were the corrals for people who just signed up for the marathon only. To see where the people who did the Goofy Challenge and the Dopey Challenge fell into these corrals, click here. The official race start time is 5:30 am, however, unless you're in the Elite corral, you won't be starting until after 5:30. The gun goes off for each corral every few minutes. The boyfriend and I, along with a friend who was a veteran Disney marathoner, were all in corral F, and we crossed the start line at 5:51 am. Here's the thing about corrals, they are changeable..to a certain degree. Meaning, you can move back to a "slower" corral, but you cannot move forward. Considering my sweet boyfriend is oh so much faster than me, he was placed in corral B originally. However, he wanted to run with me until we reached the castle around mile 5.5, so he moved back to F with me. They do check bibs when you're entering the corrals, and since each bib has what letter corral you're supposed to be in, you can't really sneak by the "bib bouncers" into a faster corral.

Honestly, the corrals are for your safety. If you run 10 minute miles and are in corral A where people might be running faster than 6 minute miles, you might get trampled. Or at the least, you'd severely tick off the other runners, and getting passed by a few hundred angry marathoners at the beginning of the race doesn't sound like very much fun. If you end up near the end of the alphabet corral-wise, make sure you bring some food with you. There are TONS of porta-potties around the corrals, so Disney has bathroom needs covered, but you might want to make sure that you have some food and water with you just so you don't start the race hungry and thirsty. It's a long race.

3. Hills

As stated previously, I live in the mountains of Virginia. We have trail races that legitimately make you run to the top of a mountain. So as far as hill training goes, I wasn't too worried about the hills in Florida, because compared to Virginia, this race was pancake flat. However, I ended up walking up part of one hill close to mile 17 just because my legs were pretty sore and I needed a break. All of the hills you run on will be on the highways. Overpasses, bridges, exit ramps, those are the hills you'll face. The worst hill is a little after mile 21, and it goes up a decently steep exit ramp. However, never fear, because the Green Army Men from Toy Story will be there to yell positive affirmations at you. It very well may be one of the highlights of your race. So yes, there are hills, but they are conquerable.

4. Entertainment

Along the 26.2 miles there will be multiple bands playing, live music, DJ's, and even a gospel choir at mile 26. You will not lack for entertainment! I had my phone and a pair of earbuds in my pocket, but didn't end up needing them because the on-course entertainment was good enough for me! Each mile is marked with a cute Disney sign that has a character on it, and there is normally music playing from speakers too. There is one part of the course around miles 18 and 20, as you enter and exit ESPN's Wide World of Sports, where you run by the same DJ twice, so that can be entertaining! And if you feel up to it, you can yell encouraging things at the people running the opposite way, which is always appreciated.

The greatest source of entertainment on the course may end up being your fellow runners. This year a lot of costumes were kind of ruined due to the weather, but you never know just how creative people can be until they show up for the race. Case and point, this guy who ran the Disneyland 10k two years ago:

Plus, running in costume really can be fun. The boyfriend and I decided to wear Captain America and Wonder Woman inspired outfits..and our brilliant plan of wearing character tank tops with special socks and shorts kind of got ruined by the cold, so we ended up wearing long sleeves under our shirts. Considering our jackets were zipped up the majority of the time to block out the cold, I didn't know if anyone could actually see my shirt, but the few times that people yelled "go Wonder Woman!" or "nice job Wonder Woman!" it really did make me smile, and encouraged me to keep running...because that's what Wonder Woman would do. Please excuse the dorky picture. We tried to look serious and mean mug the camera, but when standing up is kind of painful, all we could do was try our best.

5. Meeting Characters

I wasn't really planning on stopping and meeting characters during the race, mainly because I wanted to try to run the whole time. However, after having bad IT band syndrome issues for three weeks before my race, and not being able to train as well as I would have liked, my goal was no longer to finish at a certain time, my goal was to finish. When a friend told us that she always stopped at character stops because it was a good time to rest your legs and stretch for a minute, we decided might as well. We had no plan for when and how to stop for character stops, considering we didn't know who would be on the course and where, but we were promised that lines would move very fast because the people working the character stops were very efficient. The boyfriend had never been to Disney before, and I'd never met any characters, so we figured we'd just see who we came across and enjoy the time we had together in the parks. We didn't want to stop at all of the meet and greets, just ones that we were legitimately interested in, but there were so many character stops along the way. From Mater to Captain Jack Sparrow and Barbossa (I kind of regret not stopping for that one), to the Mouse himself and his lovely lady, plus Donald and Daisy, there were characters everywhere. Even Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff made an appearance at THE Castle, but sadly they were up on a ledge waving down...likely because the line for them would be outrageous. One of the first stops we made was for Lilo and Stitch, maybe around mile 8 or so. Getting a big hug from Stitch that early in the morning made my day.

Vanellope and Wreck It Ralph were the next stop we made

The last characters I stopped for were Sadness and Joy, and I almost cried meeting them. Definitely one of the best character interactions I had, and there was no line!

If you're expecting to have some cool interactions with Star Wars characters while running through Hollywood Studios, you might be a little disappointed. Princess wise, Mulan and Snow White were both out and about in Epcot! No sight of Belle or Rapunzel though. If you've never had any character interactions at Disney, and you need a break while running the marathon, take a minute to stop. You won't regret it!

6. Aid Stations

When you're running 26.2 miles, you need some food and water during the race. Thankfully, Disney does a great job of putting out aid stations every mile-couple of miles. Up until mile 12, the aid stations only contain water and Powerade (which tended to be decently diluted). At mile 12, you are blessed with bananas, right as you enter Animal Kingdom. The next food stop is at mile 16, and volunteers will hand out Clif Shot gels (not the blocks) in a few different flavors. Some with caffeine, some without caffeine. They had fruity flavors and then your typical chocolate and mocha flavors. Bananas were also at the mile 18.5 food stop in ESPN's Wide World of Sports, and the food stop at mile 20 had more Clif Shots. The final food stop was right after Mile 23, as you're entering Hollywood Studios, and they have CHOCOLATE. Let me tell you, Snickers, and Crispy M&Ms have never tasted so good. I'm pretty sure I screamed "oh my GOSH you guys have chocolate?!" at the people handing out the candy. I might have hugged one of them in my post 23 miles of running delirium, but I can't be sure. This map shows where all of the aid stations and medical stations were during the 2017 race. Will they change the course next year for the 25th anniversary of the Marathon? Who knows.

Should you run this marathon? If you're up for the challenge of running 26.2 miles, then absolutely. It might be a little costly, but what other marathon allows you to meet so many different characters during the race? And the lines are NOT bad at all. If you met any of these characters in the parks, the lines would be outrageous. It was well worth it. In addition, there's talk that if you get to Animal Kingdom late enough, they'll let you get in the front of the line to ride Expedition Everest, which sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me. Just make sure you're in one of the later corrals, and that the park is open when you get there! You get to go through all four parks during the race, PLUS ESPN's Wide World of Sports, which is a pretty sweet deal.

Overall, if I had to go back in time and decide whether or not I wanted to do this race again, I think I absolutely would. It was an absolutely magical first marathon experience. And considering I walked due to muscle fatigue, and stopped for some characters, I'm actually pretty pleased with my time. It was a very fun experience for sure. If my legs weren't so sore the next day, I wouldn't have even thought that I'd run a marathon. The miles didn't seem to drag by at all because I was having so much fun. If you're looking for a magical marathon, and you have a decent sized race budget, consider the Walt Disney World Marathon.